


So They Dance

by chinesebakery



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 06:36:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5195855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinesebakery/pseuds/chinesebakery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor takes Amy dancing, he has, as always, an ulterior motive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So They Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Set shortly after 5x9 "Cold Blood".

Amy beamed as she scanned the crowd, bouncing on her feet. Her hair, arranged in a fancy knot, was shimmering in the candlelight, illuminating her face. With every move she made her enormous purple gown made a distracting swishing sound, and she couldn't seem to keep still. She was the only human in the room but she certainly would have been just as noticeable in an all-earthling assembly.

"Do you need to pee?" the Doctor asked, eyeing his writhing companion.

"Doctor, you _promised_ me."

"Patience, Pond."

"My first alien ball. My first intergalactic alien ball. In space!" she clarified with a few excited claps of her hands.

"Well, there's a first for everything."

"And yet I'm not dancing. You promised we would be dancing. Why aren't we dancing?"

"If you'd been listening to me," he replied pointedly, "you would know there are rules to these things. For now, only royals and high-ranking officials are allowed on the dancefloor."

"How much longer before we peasants are allowed to see some action?" Amy pouted.

"Not too long, I'm sure. Probably. Well. The event is slated to last for about four Earth days."

"Ah," she shrugged. "I wouldn't mind staying here for four days. It's like being zapped into a high budget period movie. Only, you know. More diverse," she added as a bright blue woman in a regal white dress walked on by, her cyan hand wrapped around her partner's tentacle.

"Don't stare," the Doctor hissed. "Do you not listen to _anything_ I say?"

"Will you relax? I was looking at her dress."

"Well, the woman in the dress is the Empress of galaxy Xpervaln 8 and she's not known to be very amiable, so I suggest–"

"X-perv-what?" She wrinkled her nose after the retreating couple. "That doesn't sound right."

The Doctor sighed and seized her hand. "Come along, Pond. We'll have a much better view from the balcony."  


  
***

  
The view was indeed breathtaking from higher up, and for a few minutes Amy was too mesmerized to speak. A pair of monumental candle-lit chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, bathing the room in their warm glow. Dozens of couples of every shape, form and colour were waltzing skilfully across the spacious ballroom. A crowd of onlookers admired them as they sipped fancy drinks in tall glasses.

Amy shook her head with wonder, her eyes jumping from one dancer to the next.

"This is the most lavish party I've ever attended… Or will ever attend, I'm sure."

"You never know," he said happily, bumping his shoulder against hers. "All of time and space, remember?"

"You know, it's funny. It reminds me of a St. George's Day ball back in Leadworth, a few years after your first visit. I was a bit tipsy, having sneaked a few sips of my aunt's cider like the rebellious brat that I was, and with my–"

Suddenly, her smile faltered, her lips wavering with uncertainty.

"Pond?" He grabbed her elbow, watching her face closely. "Amelia, what's the matter?"

He knew, of course. The Doctor had seen it happen time and time again. A fleeting thought would cross her mind, a memory that made no sense without Rory in it, and she would find herself adrift.

Amy's entire life story had been torn apart and rewritten with clumsy edits in key places. Many of her most treasured memories were now sporting a Rory-shaped gaping hole.

"I thought," she started, words eluding her. "For a moment, I could swear..."

"What is it, Amy? _Concentrate_ ," he insisted uselessly.

"I thought I'd forgotten something," she said with a short laugh, as if she'd just said something silly.

Confronted with emotions that made no sense, a loss she couldn't understand, Amy would remain frozen for a moment, until the thought slipped away and her turmoil could be quickly discarded. The human mind was nothing if not resilient.

"Have you?" he murmured, rubbing her shoulder.

"Have I what?"

"Forgotten something," the Doctor said gently.

No matter how much he wanted to help her fill the gaps, to make her remember, it wasn't his place nor was that how it worked.

The Doctor knew a thing or two about grief, having mourned a planet-worth of people and many of the friends he'd made in his long life. The people you love live on with you, in your memories, in your heart. That's what you were meant to say to someone who had just suffered a loss, anyhow.

What did remain of Rory –his kindness, his sense of humour, his devotion to Amy– now it had been deleted from her mind? Badly deleted, too: stubborn echoes kept resonating aimlessly, breaking her heart each time without her knowing why. Just for a few moments, until the sorrow was forgotten as well.

There wasn't much the Doctor could do to atone for her losing Rory, but he could take her to a marvellous party, centuries and galaxies away from her childhood home, and dance with her until her feet were too sore.

Amy's face cleared as suddenly as it had fallen.

"I'm fine, dummy," she laughed, shaking her head. "It was just that stupid feeling. You know, like déjà-vu in reverse?"

"I may be familiar with that feeling, yes."

"So," Amy said, resuming her fidgeting. "Is it our time to dance, yet?"

At that very moment, a low horn blew and the dancers swiftly retreated to the side of the room. New couples, their attire a little less sophisticated, their steps not as sure as their predecessors, took to the now empty dancefloor.

"I believe it is." The Doctor hooked his elbow through Amy's, reflecting her radiant smile. "Come on, Pond. No time to waste. Let me see those peasant moves of yours."


End file.
